Stargate Universal Sin Episode 4
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: A bittersweet return turns sour when Cadman's team is trapped by unknown hostiles. With the Stargate blocked, and Daedalus crippled, new allies have to work together to save her team. Meanwhile, Rodney fights a losing battle for his sanity.
1. Chapter 1

**Stargate Atlantis – Universal Sin**

**Alternate Season 4 of Atlantis**

**Episode 4 - Discord  
**

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**A/N: ** This is the edited version of Discord, it has been further proofread and detailed. No story changes, just detail.**  
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* * *

Standing in the Control Chair room of Atlantis, Major Evan Lorne looked at the chair in front of him and blew a deep sigh. "Never thought I'd get to fly something this big."

To his side, Samantha Carter patted him on the shoulder. "Never thought I'd be riding shotgun."

Even further to the side, Dr Radek Zelenka had finished programming the power sequence. "And I don't believe I ever thought I would be reprogramming an ancient city ship to use rocket boosters."

Sam fought the smirk, but it was a pretty true statement. With only one ZPM, it would be difficult to get the city up into space and not drain their one precious power source. But the threat of the Asurans launching another siege was too great and it had to be done.

So to that effect, the entire city had been preparing for this for days now. Everyone had been moved to the area around the central spire in order to minimize shielding to the smallest possible area. All the Naquadah Generators the city had were running on controlled overload to give just a few percentage points more to what the city needed.

And as Doctor Zelenka had found, attaching F-302 styled rocket engines to specific hardened points on the city also managed to bump a few percentages off the drain to the ZPM.

They wouldn't take off for another day or two, the preparations still not complete. But the sooner they could get out of here the sooner…

An alarm began to sound, and within moments both Sam and Lorne were on their headsets. "This is Colonel Carter to the control room! Report!"

A few seconds passed, and Chuck's steady voice came through. _"Ma'am, sensors report 5 Hyperspace windows have opened at the edge of the system. Something's jamming our short range sensors so we can't tell what kind of ships they are."_

Sam immediately got into command mode, and looked to Lorne. Without words, the Major nodded and moved to the chair. Sam took a deep breath and began to head to the control room. "Copy that. Major Lorne is going to raise our shields and man the drone weapons. Have all available personnel report in and prepare to dial Midway."

A moment's hesitation and the Canadian Sergeant acknowledged. _"Yes Ma'am… Colonel Caldwell is on the horn."_

With a light jog, Sam charged up the stairs heading up to the control room. "Patch him through!"

A click, a moment of static, and then Caldwell's irritated voice came in. _"Colonel Carter… I'm guessing you can see the fleet heading our way?"_

Sam rolled her eyes but kept her words to herself. "Yes, Colonel! We're raising our shields and arming weapons… what condition is _Daedalus_ in?"

Another hesitation, Sam had noticed many people were reluctant to give her bad news. _"… Not good. Hyperdrive is at 25% due to a refit. We've only got one plasma beam operational, and most of our nuclear ordinance was sent down to Atlantis while the ship was being repaired… We're completely outgunned up here."_

Opening the door to the Control Room, Sam jogged quickly through the amphitheater where the gate resided and bounced up the stairs. "Copy that… can you land before we get our shields up?"

_"Negative Colonel… We might be able to distract them for a minute or two but our shields are still considerably weak. I hate to say it but they caught us with our pants down."_

Sam finally walked into control room and saw all her people working hard… and it pleased her. It had been weeks since she saw this level of strong activity and it seemed that ever since the quarantine snafu last week, everybody on the base had gotten back to their senses. Sam herself felt much better, and now she was ready for anything that might be coming. "Status… Give me a city wide sit-rep."

Amelia Banks turned in her chair and nodded. "Ma'am, refugees are in Towers 3 and 4, Sergeant Stackhouse and Marine Squad Lima say they're getting a little panicky. Most of our people are in the core of the city and the shield is coming up."

Sam noted it, and looked to Chuck. "Any teams off-world?"

Chuck brought up the information and slid his screen to give Sam a better view. "AR-2 and AR-5 are off world… AR-2 is offering refuge to one of our trade partners, and AR-5 is on a recon mission to a suspected Wraith shipyard… Neither are expected to radio in for several hours."

A curse escaped her mouth, but then Soldier Sam took over. "Damn. Alright, have all departments report in and standby for possible engagement. If it's the Wraith, we'll fight, if it's the Replicators…" A moment's hesitation, followed by a steel backed voice. "…then we launch the city no matter what the condition."

A few of the techs looked at each other, but they were all in agreement. Sam took her position by her command console and began to issue the orders to get it done. Sam tapped her headset and barked. "Major Lorne! City Status?"

"_Drones coming online ma-am! Still out of range but we're ready to shred 'em."_

Sam smirked, the Drone weapons could certainly _shred_ any target they sought out. In a way, Sam was looking forward to this, it was oddly beautiful to see the weapons of precise destruction fly.

So when a transmission came in to Amelia's computer unexpectedly, she blinked and froze for a moment. Once the hesitation was over though, Amelia called out. "Ma'am! I've got a transmission here."

Sam turned in her seat and nodded to her. "Who's it from?"

Amelia furrowed her brow. "It came from those ships Ma-am… but… it's…"

With a motion Sam indicated for her to send it to her console. A moment later, a message popped up on Sam's screen.

"_Lucy! I'm Hooome!"_

Both Sam's eyebrows shot up, and she looked over to Amelia. "You said the ships heading this way sent this?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes Ma'am… I feel like I should remember it."

With a chuckle, and a new gleam of hope Sam smiled and tapped her response. "Before your time, Sergeant… hell it was before _my_ time!" She only knew one person in the Atlantis Expedition… in fact the in the _entire_ Pegasus Galaxy who would say something so esoteric in order to prove it was him. "…Send this message back…_ 'Ricky, I thought you left me! Waaaa!' _and once they get closer drop the shields."

Now everyone turned to Sam with honest and sincere surprise. But seeing her suddenly gleaming smile, realized that she knew something was going on… and whoever this _'Lucy'_ and _'Ricky'_ characters were, there was an inside joke in there.

* * *

"Sir, we're reaching visual range."

Caldwell grumbled softly and input his nuclear codes into his arm console. "Get us into a perpendicular course. I wanna sideswipe em and run like hell."

Marks lamented the damaged state of the ship, and the sluggish way it responded to his commands. "Yes, sir. On screen."

The image resolved into 4 small dots surrounding a larger bright rod. It took a second for Caldwell to recognize it but then he realized what it was. "Oh damnit, it's an Aurora! Have Missile tubes 1 through 4 load nuclear ordinance. Once we're in range…"

The Major furrowed his brow as he looked at the sensor data and interrupted Caldwell. "Sir… wait… I'm getting IDC information…" His eyes went wide. "Sir, It's Colonel Sheppard's IDC! He's on that Aurora!"

Caldwell raised his head from the darkened hunch he was in, and realized that perhaps Colonel Sheppard's lunacy just might have come in handy. "Get me a confirmation on those other ships… Keep our weapons hot just in case."

* * *

Sam was ecstatic, the small hope that she carried within her for the past 3 and a half weeks had proven themselves, and now another of her command staff was returning.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs with Major Lorne next to her along with Dr Zelenka. To the side, Dr Keller waited with a small medical team to clear the Traveler delegation. Mere moments were left for the bittersweet reunion.

It was an odd feeling to Sam. John had been her first real executive officer. While on SG1 she and Cameron had come to an agreement to share responsibility and leadership… and she would never think of Daniel, Teal'c or Vala as subordinates. Then again she didn't really see John as much of a subordinate either, he may have been a lower rank… but his support was nothing like what she'd expected. John was truly a friend who assisted her in running the military side of the city… and it just so happened he was coming back in one piece.

At its very core, she was just happy to take another name off the casualties list. "Incoming rings matter stream ma'am. From the Aurora."

Sam nodded without even facing Amelia, and watched as the rings at the base of the Gate Room suddenly shot up, and caught the matter stream. 5 people came into existence… 2 of them recognizable.

Colonel Sheppard stepped out, and Sam nearly winced at the sight of him. His cheeks were inflamed and both eyes were darkened with bruising. His step was ever so slightly stiff, as if he'd been tied down. Sam realized that this was most likely the case, but decided to wait until they were in the conference room to talk diplomacy. "Colonel Sheppard…"

John looked up and smiled half heartedly. "Colonel Carter…"

Sam took a few steps forward. Seeing him alive was the best news she'd had in weeks and the urge to hug him to see if he was real wasn't lost on her. "Welcome back."

With a nod, John replied. "It's good to be back…" he turned back to the Travelers behind him, each armed with Particle Magnums and less than friendly faces. "…I brought some guests… hope you've got the dinner table ready."

Sam smiled, and suddenly felt horrible that it would fall to her to brief John on everything that had happened in the past few weeks. He likely knew of Apollo's demise… but not Rodney… and certainly not what had happened to Ronon. "You caught us by surprise… but I think we can arrange something." Sam turned to the Travelers and motioned to them "If you'll follow me, our conference room is just up ahead."

The 4 Travelers including Larrin moved ahead, completely unafraid of any of the SF's or Marines standing guard. Dr Keller ignored all of them and ran a quick scan using her portable unit. They were all in excellent health, but John's injuries looked like they did require aid. But as soon as she even neared him his hand went up and his head shook. "Nuh uh… You can poke and prod me all you like… _later._"

Keller looked to Sam who after a moment's hesitation on the steps nodded her head in agreeance with John. Somewhere in Dr Keller's mind was the snark she wanted to spit acid, but instead Jennifer just rolled her eyes and walked away. Heroes had that effect on Doctors… and it was because of that, there was a shortage of heroes in Atlantis now.

* * *

"Sanctuary? That's it?"

Sam wasn't surprised by Larrin's reaction; the other 3 Travelers didn't seem appeased as well. "I'm sorry, Larrin. My government has made it clear that any mass exodus through the Stargates to the Milky Way presents too much of a risk of invasion. If not by the Wraith, then the Replicators."

Larrin shot a glance to John, who with a slight nod passed some unknown message. "I'm assuming we're still trying to convince them though?"

Sam leaned back in her chair; her talks with the IOA usually ended in more frustration that she wanted to admit she was capable of tolerating. "Constantly, I've got meetings with each individual responsible for this matter and…"

With a curt shake of her hand, Larrin redirected the conversation. "Wraith shit… I need to know _now_ what we're going to do about this. My people have already suffered from both the Wraith and the Replicators and some are planning on trying to stay out of the conflict. I'm smart enough to know both the Wraith and the Replicators are gonna hunt us down."

Sam sighed and looked to the whole group. "I'm truly sorry. If it were up to me, I'd have already evacuated the people we have to a planet in our galaxy. The most I can offer is the safety of this base… for as long as that lasts."

Larrin turned again, obviously frustrated. She let out a short sigh and shook her head. "You'll excuse me if I think that's pathetic."

With a gulp, Sam replied. "I agree… but my hands are tied. From what Colonel Sheppard tells me. You've got around 5000 people living on your ships."

A nod from the Traveler delegation, though they all seemed to motion to Larrin to speak. She turned and rubbed her face. "Yeah… we've got about 20 big ships left… another 30 smaller ones, Atlantis would easily hold them all and then some."

Sam stood up, and she nodded with a diplomatic tone. "Of course… please coordinate with Major Lorne on finding accommodations. I'm sure we can work something out in the meantime."

Now Larrin smiled, and she waved over one of the Travelers behind her. "We can. Power. Our scans tell us Atlantis is underpowered right now. I'm willing to offer our engineering staff in helping adapt our power generators for the city. Better than those Naquadah reactors I detected."

John felt like he should have been offended, but spoke nonetheless. "I'm sure McKay and Zelenka would be glad to give you a hand with that."

Every Atlantean in the room winced and hid their grimace. It was plainly obvious that John had no clue what had happened.

* * *

"I'm… I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you."

John sat on the floor with his legs extended out. None of the other Atlanteans or even Travelers dared go out onto the balcony where Sam had taken John to brief him. "… How'd Ronon get out?"

Sam sat across from John, it seemed perfect for the two leaders to commiserate in such a relaxed yet uncomfortable position. "John, I don't think…"

With a terse voice, barely showing the edges of anger and grief in John's mind, he repeated himself. "… _How_ did Ronon get out?"

It was excruciating to live it through again. Sam sighed softly and relented. "The Wraith captured him… they sent darts down to Asuras to steal ZPMs during the skirmish. He was about to detonate one of them when he got caught in their culling beam. Last time he saw Rodney…" Sam didn't say anymore.

John rubbed his eyes. The pain of the bruised flesh was nothing compared to knowing Rodney was dead. "…_Goddamnit_… Who else?"

"Everyone on Apollo… the rest of the strike team… and we've lost 2 more teams to Asuran surprise attacks while evacuating civilians."

John winced again. "So what's the casualty count?"

It was too much information too fast, Sam hated having to be the one to tell John all this and looked away from him. "John, you just got back. You look like a piñata and technically, you're still MIA. We need to contact Earth and get this whole mess sorted out."

John sighed again and nodded. "Yeah… yeah I bet… did they notify Jeannie?"

It had been a heart wrenching call, but Sam had been the one to do it. "… Yeah… she didn't take it so well."

Very rarely in his life did John cry, but this was getting to that point. He tried to keep his fury in but using his fist, delivered a hammer punch to the wall behind him. "_Goddamnit!"_

Sam understood, she really did. But her method of grieving was different… though she wasn't above admonishing his actions. "I know… the IOA didn't want to let her through the gate to get his things… it's going out with the next shipment to Earth."

With his trembling fist to his mouth, John asked more. "…How did Ronon get away from the Wraith?"

Sam rubbed her mouth and sighed. "John, I really don't think you should be jumping back in so fast… you…" She looked at the injured man in front of her, and wondered exactly how bad Larrin had flogged him. "Well, look at you! The only reason I'm holding Keller at bay is because I…" another moment of hesitance, and she almost whispered the last part. "…I know how close you were to Rodney… and I owe it to him that you hear it from me."

John realized that the loss of Rodney had been hard on everyone, and perhaps Rodney hadn't been exaggerating when he said he and Sam Carter were friends. "I…… Thank you… Seriously. I appreciate you doing this… but if the Wraith have ZPMs…"

Sam shook her head quickly and blew a sigh of relief. "No… the only good news is Ronon used a tablet Rodney gave him to detonate the ZPMs the Wraith stole. That Wraith that you knew saved him and dropped him off at Sateda… as much as I'd love to rip his throat out, I guess he does have some kind of honor."

Making a mental note to speak to Ronon later, John rubbed his hands together. "Alright… *_sigh_* I guess I've made Keller wait long enough…"

With a nod, Sam smiled at John. "You sure have, I'm sure she'll…" before she could finish, the sound of an alarm came through and brought them both to full alertness. Sam tapped her headset as John looked at her expectantly. "This is Colonel Carter, What's going on!?"

Over the radio, Amelia came in with a near frantic voice. _"Colonel Carter! We have AR-2 on the other side of the gate! I'll patch you through!"_

John heard the franticness just barely in her headset and got to his feet. "What? What is it!?"

Sam got to her feet as well and listened carefully, static tuned in her head and she concentrated on the noise. A moment later Captain Cadman's voice came in under obvious duress from what sounded like battle. _"…repeat! This is Captain Cadman here! Colonel Carter, where are you?!"_

"I'm here Captain! Report! Is that gunfire in the background?"

"_No ma-am! Artillery! We've…" _The transmission cut for a moment, and Cadman continued with her report. "_… Jesus, that was close… Colonel! The situation has destabilized on this planet! Once we told them about the Wraith and Replicators they started fighting over who was in charge! The entire country has…" _another explosion, and now the sound of automatic gunfire. "_… Goddamn! Climb that rock and give me some cover fire! Hester, break that wall down with this… Colonel?"_

John moved closer trying to listen in, but Sam batted him away trying to keep her concentration. "Quit it…! No wait… Yes! Captain I'm here! We'll send a Jumper to get you out right away!"

With a grunt, John turned around and growled with his heavy breathing. He motioned for a Marine nearby to come over and took his earpiece. Soon, he too was listening to the cacophony of the battle on the other side of the wormhole. _"Negative! That's a negative Colonel! Artillery fire has taken out the gate supports and it's lying on its face!! My team is holed up in their DHD room but we've got wounded! We can't get to the gate and we're on the run!"_

John wanted to scream, _more_ friends of his were now in peril. He shot a desperate look to Sam… pleading to do something. Sam simply starred back and donned her military hat. "Copy Captain… Fall back and await reinforcements. Don't do anything drastic!"

Automatic weapons fired in the background, and a woman screaming in rage. _"Fall back! Do not engage! Fall back dammit!" _an explosion, and the short and shrill scream of a man fighting. _"Hester!! Goddamnit! You better send someone fast or you won't even need body bags!"_

More gunfire, screaming, and a final explosion put an end to the frantic report. "Captain.., Captain! Respond!" Sam winced, more casualties… _more dead._ "…Amelia, patch me through to Colonel Caldwell."

John rubbed his face and winced. The Travelers had told him how crippled _Daedalus_ was. Options… he needed options…

"_Caldwell__ on the line ma'am."_

Again, the Colonel didn't sound exactly friendly. _"What is it Colonel? We're still putting the pieces back together here."_

Sam turned around and faced John. The look on his face had changed from sorrow and grief to rage. His voice was calm. "They're in no shape to go."

Ignoring him, Sam asked. All her options had to be exhausted before she'd give up. "Colonel, I've got a team under fire and access through the gate is impeded. I need _Daedalus_ to…"

Interrupting, Caldwell sounded like he wanted to curse. _"No can do Colonel. Hyperdrive is barely running and more than likely we'd burn out and get stranded. Chief Thompson estimates another two days for half strength hyperdrive if he prioritizes it"_

Now Sam cursed. "Damn." She looked to John and simply remained silent, now unsure. "What do we do?

John simply remained impassive and after a moment, sighed. "Larrin has ships."

It was obvious, but Sam had missed it because she was still reeling from all the sudden chaos. "… You're right… but… will she help us?"

John rubbed the bridge of his nose and nodded. "I'll talk to her. Convince her to take us to get Cadman's team out."

Sam nodded, suddenly relieved that perhaps she had more friends than she counted for. "Do whatever you have to, lie, cheat, steal… you've got my full backing as long as you don't break the rules."

With a snort, John realized that yes… yes he would indeed break the rules now. "No promises."

Sam smiled. John had chosen the right time to come back, and his aggressive stance was exactly the support she needed.

* * *

The hallway wasn't the best place for this conversation, but this wasn't the first time John had been this close to Larrin… although it was the first time it was optional. He leaned on the wall with one hand, almost boxing her in. it was a very personal mode of talking to someone but John felt he needed every edge.

Of course Larrin's reply to his request was expected. "You're kidding."

John shook his head and sighed. Larrin didn't seem that impressed with his request. "Believe me, I wish I were."

Larrin groaned softly and rubbed her face. This was _not_ the first allied move she was hoping to make. "I came here because I know my people can't survive this war on their own… not to become your pawns."

With an exasperated tone, John replied. "Damnit, Larrin. You know that's not what this is! All I'm asking for is a ship… _one_ ship to give us a ride and bring our people back."

"I've been here less than an hour; I haven't even met with your engineers yet! And already you're asking for something so big?"

John understood Larrin's position; he'd be feeling the same. But this was important and John was ready to do anything. "_One Ship_… all we need is a ride. No combat, no risk… just get my team in and out and that's it."

Larrin huffed softly and looked away from John. She wondered what had possessed her to even come here. They weren't going to risk their own people to help _them_. "Why can't your people send a ship? You have one floating in orbit."

"I told you. It's crippled. It's _been_ crippled ever since it limped back from Asuras!"

With a not so gentle push, Larrin shoved John aside and moved off. "I need to coordinate with your engineers… get this place running good enough to take off."

With a bowed head, and subsonic rage, John called after her. "_Larrin!"_

She turned, and with a few technicians going by who gave curious glances, but not daring to stop, she faced off with him. "What?"

John moved closer, they were _very_ close. Easily within each other's personal space. John kept his voice low, almost a whisper. "You don't know this… but I've _never_ begged for anything."

Larrin could see where this was going and decided to really stick it to him for taking such a sympathetic route. "That's hard to believe."

Holding back his harsh tongue, John closed his eyes and bowed his head in humility. "You see what you've reduced me to? _Goddamn it_… I'm begging you Larrin… _I'm begging you! __One ship!_ That's it._" _Despite trying, he still gave his voice a certain degree of hostility.

Larrin for that matter remained silent. She really had reduced John to mere skin and bones now. What would she do in his position, having to beg the help of almost strangers to save the lives of their people? She wanted to say she'd never do that, but knew that if her people were at risk, Larrin would do the same.

It took her another few moments, but raising her wrist she tapped in a few keys. As she did, she muttered to John. "Well you just shot down any chance you had with me. I never date beggars."

Unwilling to simply lie down and take such an insult, John narrowed his eyes and deadpanned. "Well it's a good thing beggars _can_ be choosers then."

Larrin eyes went wide from the unknown idiom, but the communication line was already open. "Uhh… This is Larrin. Katana please come in."

* * *

Cadman loved explosives. In fact, anything of a high temperature or energetic material was something that she held close to her heart.

She just didn't like it when they were pointed in her direction. Especially when they tossed enough rocks at her to cut through her BDU's and make some minor cuts and scrapes. "Keep moving! Come on Hester… don't pass out on me now…"

The Master Sergeant sputtered out a reply, his body fighting him all the way. _"… That's the least of my worries cap…"_

Cadman shook the Sergeant even as she helped him along. The Artillery shell that had landed not 10 feet away from him had showered him in shrapnel that tore his armor to shreds and sent him into a fugue like shock. The fall down the stone steps didn't help any either, and his injuries were severe from the shockwave and shrapnel. Moving was the last thing he needed.

But to stay in the contested Gate Room was just a little more dangerous. "Yeah well, you have any idea how complicated the paperwork for casualties is? You wouldn't do that to me would ya?"

To the side, Marine Corporal Edward Grant took cover behind a tree and used his binoculars to try and assess their followers. His left arm was in his shirt acting as a sling from taking fire from a low caliber weapon. "Captain! Looks like we're outta the meat grinder but I've got a platoon following us… Look like Genii!"

With a grunt and curse, Cadman continued to help Sergeant Hester limp away from the battle. She looked over to the last member of her team, another Marine, Lance Corporal Eli Jenkins who moved ahead to clear any possible obstruction. Thankfully, he hadn't been wounded but the frantic nature of the sudden battle was starting to get to him. "Jenkins! Plant some claymores!" she turned back to Grant and motioned with her head. "You too, Grant! I'm gonna try and get Hester to that ridge up there! Don't dawdle! These bastards are playing for keeps!"

Cadman knew the two Marines would do their duty. Hester managed to fumble out a reply to her earlier question. "_…sorry cap…won't happen again." _

Her laugh was more to keep calm than anything else. The sounds of shells, screams, and gunfire now lay behind her in the main city. Her team would survive, because even though Laura Cadman may have moved to the Air Force to further her career, but at heart she would be Semper Fi.

* * *

John didn't even give a foreword or introduction, he simply walked into Sam's office and went into it head first. "Larrin's lending us a ship. And the Air Force owes me my dignity back."

Sam smirked as she looked up at him. John's ability to use humor to mask even the darkest situations was… reassuring. It wasn't unlike General O'Neill… another person she missed. "I'll see what I can do about requesting one for you with the next relief shipment. Which reminds me, I'm gonna need your report to send to the SGC with our next…"

John shook his hand and head in unison. "After I come back."

With a sudden raise of her brows, Sam stared at John. "And where exactly do you think you're going?" His cold stare told her everything that was on his mind. "You can't be serious. Look at you! You can barely limp!"

With a shrug of his shoulders, John scoffed. "I'm just sore. 2 weeks tied to a chair does that to you." The humor didn't have its intended effect, and John tried to be reasonable "I'm fine Sam. Keller can take a quick look and confirm it if you want but I'm going."

Getting up from her desk, Sam saw that John was deadly serious. "I'm worried too, John. But technically you shouldn't even be in here."

John laughed softly as he scoffed. "Oh so I'm still technically MIA? Good. Keep it that way till I get back."

Now Sam understood exactly what John wanted… and even worse, he'd given her a legal way to get out of being responsible. "…I hate you sometimes you know that?" She smiled and nodded, enjoying the look of surprise John now wore. "Go. Get our people back. And you better come back alive or else I'm learning how to ascend and kicking your ass all over the galaxy"

The smile on John's face was different than what he'd been expecting. Sam seemed to trust him more than most others would. Perhaps his initial impression of her needed amending… if only a little. "Why does every woman in this galaxy feel the need to do that…?" he scoffed at his little joke and nodded. "I'll need Ronon… and a team of marines."

Sam tapped her earpiece as she nodded. "Major Lorne, please come in."

"_Yes Colonel, I was just giving the Travelers a quick tour of…"_

Interrupting, Sam quickly spat out orders. "Take a break and organize a combat strike force. I want marines with urban training and combat experience to meet with Colonel Sheppard in 20 minutes in the Armory. All stores are free for use. We're going on a rescue mission."

Sam met John's gaze as they both came to an unsaid agreement. Neither was going to abandon anyone, and both were going to support each other fully.

* * *

The Marines were assembled in front of John with expressionless faces. Every one of them had heard what was going down and knew that they were about to enter heavy combat. John looked at them all and began his briefing. "Alright guys. Here's the plan. The Travelers are going to give us a ride to the planet where AR-2 is currently under fire. We'd go through the gate but it's blocked. The plan is to find the team by their subcutaneous transmitters and get them out. It's likely they're either in hiding or have been captured. We're going in weapons hot and ROE is full engagement. Don't wait for them to shoot you."

The eight man Marine squad became a little disquieted by the order; it was unlike their typical ROE back on Earth. The Marine Captain in charge of the squad of enlisted Marines spoke up. "Sir, what's the situation on the planet?"

"From what we can tell…" John understood what was going through their minds. It would be going through his under the same circumstances. "…the political situation on the planet has broken down into civil war. As far as I could tell when I went there a few months ago, they weren't exactly all that technological. But Captain Cadman made it clear in her report that there were artillery guns as well as automatic weapons being used… so yes, as far as the situation. It's FUBAR."

Ronon sat off to the side waiting for Sheppard to finish briefing; he leaned over and spoke to Lorne. "FUBAR? The hell is that?"

Lorne smirked and leaned back. _"Fucked up beyond all recognition."_

Ronon shrugged in comprehension. "Good word. Anymore?"

"I'll tell you later."

John continued with his briefing. "We're going in light and hard. The planet has decent infrastructure and we don't know where Cadman's team is going to be. So take P90s and Super M4s, I want 2 M25s and 2 Javelins, no telling what kind of vehicles they've got if they've got artillery. Clear?"

Eight instant acknowledgements. "Yes, Sir!"

"One last thing, don't bother grabbing sidearm's… the Traveler's got us a little present for our first allied mission together."

Every marine instantly smiled, Ronon on the other hand grimaced.

With a nod, John motioned them to move into the armory and load up. He walked over to Major Lorne and Ronon. "You guys coming?"

Lorne shook his head. "No sir. Colonel Carter's asked me to stay behind and make sure the Traveler's don't cause any trouble. I don't think they will but she's the boss. If you'll excuse me sir."

Smirking at his friend's situation as the Major left, Ronon nodded to John. "Heard you were looking for me."

"Yeah. You okay?"

Ronon hesitated a moment. "Rodney's dead… we're alive."

With those words, and the unspoken communications between them as they looked at each other, everything came into focus. "Yeah… we are. So let's go get our people back."

A growl escaped Ronon's throat. The thought of fighting again made him… pleased.

* * *

John stopped for a moment, she hadn't even seen him and already he was going to run off into combat. It was already hard enough seeing Ronon, he _needed_ to do this. "Catch up with you in a second."

Ronon turned, gave John an odd expression, but then realized what he was going to do. "I'll wait. Go."

John nodded and moved off. It would only take a second.

A few minutes later, John found her. Teyla was in the gateroom balcony, obviously having come looking for him. "Teyla."

She didn't turn, but John could tell that Teyla was likely just hiding her emotions as she often did. "John."

Moving forward, John stopped before actually touching Teyla. He desperately wanted her to look at him, just prove to her that he was alive. "I'm leaving in a bit."

"I know."

Was that what was bothering her? That John had seemingly escaped death and tormet only to walk into another firestorm?

Teyla seemed to be able to read his mind as she finally turned, and he could see that she was on the verge of crying. All he wanted was to hold her, Reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that he was going to be here for her now that Rodney was gone.

Instead they just stared at each other for a few moments, and John bowed his head finally and said. "I have to go."

He had turned, John was already moving away. Teyla's voice cut through what little emotional defense he had left. "_John!"_

Turning back, John saw Teyla step towards him and put her hands on his cheeks. She was noticeably more pregnant, a glow about her that he hadn't noticed till just now. He bowed his head into hers, the typical Athosian greeting.

It quickly ended, and Teyla wrapped her arms around John and squeezed him tightly before saying softly. "_Be careful."_

That's all John wanted. Just to let Teyla know he was there, and that he was going to do his _damnedest_ to stay there. "I'm always careful."

Teyla's snicker reassured him more than anything else she could do.

---------------

Leaving the Jumper he'd just piloted into the belly of the Traveler Craft, John was taken aback by a female voice saying. "So you're Larrin's little plaything? I can see what she enjoys."

Ronon turned to John and stared at him with a murderously evil grin. John simply winced and groaned. "Unfortunately so can I. Katana, I'm assuming?"

The dark haired slightly tan woman nodded and waved the two of them in. "I hear you've got a death wish."

Again, Ronon looked back to John with that same grin. John rolled his eyes and waved his own marines into the Traveler craft. "If rescuing my people is a death wish, then yes."

Katana smiled and chuckled; she looked to Ronon with a somewhat impressed grin and nodded. "Hope you're ready for a rough ride."

Now it was John who turned to Ronon with an evil grin. The Travelers certainly had a communal sense of humor. "Engines acting up?"

Katana turned with her suggestive smile and motioned for them to follow. "No."

Oh yeah, John and Ronon both knew that allying with the Travelers was going to be a _great_ boon to Atlantis.

* * *

"Incoming fire! Fall back!"

Sheppard's voice was drowned out by the sounds of the Wraith Cruiser's cannons up ahead. It was laying down thunderous suppressive fire and even as the Colonel fired the missile launcher on his shoulder, it only put a small dent in the massive ship above. "Sheppard! Come on! We need to get to the gate!"

Rodney watched as Ronon lugged a broken Lorne on his shoulders, the major having been on a rock face when the initial blasts hit and getting badly wounded in the ensuing rockslide. Both teams had wounded and Rodney was torn between wanting to help Dr Keller with them and helping to stonewall the Wraith advance.

Their jumper was the next target, and Rodney watched in horror as 3 Airmen and Marines who were there to help with lugging supplies for trade were explosively ejected from the aft hatch, their bodies burning and lungs shrieking.

Rodney was a scientist dammit… he was never meant to be in the thick of it in a war. Ever since coming to Atlantis, he'd broadened his horizons. But he never wanted to see people dying. No matter how many times he could have wished people away he _never_ wanted anyone to die… _he didn't want to die._

Deciding, he went over to Dr Keller and helped her lift a wounded and crying marine who was missing the bottom of his left leg. The stump was bandaged now even as the marine howled in agony. "Doctor! Can't you give him some morphine or something?!"

Keller looked back at him as they lifted the stretcher he was on and shook her head. "I'm all out! There's just…"

A blast ahead of them knocked both them and the critically injured man they carried down and to the ground. The Wraith Cruiser was approaching with impunity despite the various missiles that rose up from fighting Marines.

Rodney was dazed and confused now, the blast had sprayed him down with dirt and he could feel the cuts and bruises all over his body… and worst of all… he felt like this was finally it. He was going to die today and so were all his friends.

How had it come to this? Desperately trying to fall back to the gate where safety and Atlantis lay in wait… Only about 60 feet away… it was within reach…


	2. Chapter 2

Talia had taken to watching Dr McKay during his more harrowing ordeals at the hand of Oberoth. The battle against the Wraith was going well and she estimated no more than 2 months for the majority of their feeding grounds to be destroyed. Once that was dealt with, they would begin the long process of tracking the Wraith down and destroying them.

The biggest concern was Atlantis. The city of their creators. It had left the main gate grid and reports indicated that the usurpers were still active within its shields. Not only that, but the Wraith had also managed to steal 5 ZPMs during their near successful alliance with the Humans against the Asurans. There had been no other word of the 'Traveler' humans with the makeshift vessels.

Overall though, Oberoth was right to be so calm as to take the time to personally oversee Dr. McKay's 'interrogation'. Certainly Talia could see that it was having the desired effect and the surprisingly strong human was beginning to crack.

Oberoth finished the program he was currently running, a rendition of a lone survivor scenario that left the Doctor barely alive after a terrible battle surrounded by all his dead comrades. Certainly it was a terrible ordeal indeed as the instant Oberoth released his hand, the Doctor crumpled to the floor amidst sobs and whines of sorrow.

Niam had once spoken to her of emotion. The long gone brother had wondered if such a thing were part of what is known as a soul to the humans. Talia recognized his words instantly as that of talk of ascension… but was unwilling to present that information to Oberoth.

Now she had a unique perspective, and she felt the desire to know what Dr McKay was feeling. Not out of some desire to ascend of course, but more so to give something to complement the wrath she constantly felt within her. Oberoth left without a word, deciding to give the Doctor a rest period for his mind to recover from the shock of hours of simulation.

Talia knelt by the weeping doctor… his hair was greasy and disgusting. The patch of it growing beside his mouth made her wonder exactly how dirty these creatures could really be. But she ignored the hygienic problem and with just a moment's hesitation, began to probe Rodney's mind.

It was… interesting to say the least. The man was still convinced that none of what was happening to him was real, but now he wasn't sure anything really was anymore. His brain chemistry was strange as well, the new links and connections his neurons created were… confusing. Almost as if his brain were adapting to become a peer to peer network. It would only last so long, and once that time came his full memory and knowledge would be accessed.

Talia let go, suddenly awash with the same feelings Dr McKay had. The sensations were so… _different…_ almost as if she were tasting some taboo fruit in a mystical garden. She instantly wanted more, to understand what the Doctor was going though. But sensing Oberoth's return, she quickly pushed those… _feelings_… aside and faced off with her leader. "The Doctor is weakening. I do not expect more than a few weeks until his will erodes."

Oberoth nodded, and waved for Talia to follow. "I would prefer sooner, but I cannot push any harder. His body will not last the strain and we must have the information in his memory."

Talia stepped in line and followed. Probably a status report on recent strikes against Wraith Feeding Worlds or engagements with the Wraith, all rather boring really. What she wanted to know was about Atlantis… and how they might possibly be feeling about the events of the battle.

----------------------------------

"Rodney died a hero. He blew up the Wraith."

John furrowed his brow as he sat waiting in the cargo bay, The hyperdrive on this craft was a little finicky, and the sight of that 14 year old something or other bouncing around the engine room had jarred his thoughts to a halt. Now though as he listened to Ronon, his brain restarted. "Sam said you did it. Rodney gave you his tablet and…"

Ronon's response was instant and harsh. "…I plugged it in. It was his work that made it blow up. It wouldn't have worked without Rodney."

It was an interesting way to think, and John liked it. "I guess if you look at it that way…" John still didn't want to think about how Rodney died. Ronon seemed to have gotten past it and this was his hold on reality. "He really was something wasn't he?"

A nod and Ronon fingered the shiny new Traveler blaster Katana had given the Atlanteans. "Yeah… he was."

No more words as the ship captain entered and motioned to John. "Sheppard, we need to talk."

John nodded to Ronon and got up quickly. His sore muscles ached and it would be weeks in the gym to restore his physical condition from before, but that was the least of his concerns.

He walked over and followed Katana as she moved along, all of a sudden in the middle of an empty hallway she turned and faced him with an angry look. "I'm doing this because Larrin ordered me to. What I wanna know is if the situation were reversed, would you help us?"

John was a little taken aback by the question, but answered immediately. "Well, yeah. It's not like we're enemies."

Katana kept her voice harsh. "But we're not exactly allies either. We came to Atlantis hoping your people were as good as Larrin said they were. All I'm seeing is people who take and barely give."

She was pissed, and John was pissed off as well. "Yeah well what did I tell you when Larrin brought me before your council? Atlantis will do everything it can… _I'm_ going to do everything I can."

The Traveler woman leaned closer. "What can _you_ do? You had to beg Larrin to even get this ship."

John leaned in closer as well, now infuriated. "That's right; I did beg her for this. And right now your people are completely welcome on Atlantis; you don't have to worry about the Wraith feeding on your children as long as we have power for the shields."

"Those shields'll only have power because we're installing our generators."

This had gone on long enough and John was in no mood for a circular argument. "Bottom line is we _need_ each other. Today we're saving _my_ people. Next week when the rest of your ships arrive we'll be saving _your_ people. So if you can't take that then just shut up and follow your orders."

It was a harsh statement, and John saw he broke whatever argument the woman had. She softened her features and broke the duel stare. "…you're right… Larrin was right about you."

Now John raised his eyebrows. "Larrin talks about me?"

Katana smiled deviously, and John knew he made a fatal mistake. "Oh… just a thing or two…"

'_Damn… Larrin's gonna kick my ass later.'_

_--------------------------------_

The ridge turned out to be a horrible idea as the Genii bastards causing this war had decided the same as her and were waiting. It had been a close call, but AR-2 had managed to evade them for the time being by doubling back and sneaking past their claymore wounded pursuers. Now back in the war torn city, they had holed up in a basement awaiting the reinforcements Carter had promised.

The only problem? Hester was dying. "… _Hey… cap…"_

Laura knew explosives and mechanical engineering to a degree. She could easily shape and deploy C4 charges that could cut through a door with little more than a bang, or wire a complicated mess that would make some hardened bunkers become nothing more than broken concrete. But when it came to people… Laura was only average. "Sarge… come on… you need to rest…"

The basement they were in was damp and cold, Laura had opened her survival kit and draped the blanket over Hester to try and keep the man warm. Jenkins stood by the door with his P90 at the ready while Grant got some much needed rack time. Laura had dressed his injured arm with what she could but without a doctor, only anti-biotics would keep it from infecting.

Laura herself was pushing her own limits. She'd been awake for 26 hours now and the urge to sleep was there. But this was _her_ team, _her_ responsibility. Just because half the nation wanted to follow some brat as their queen, and the other half decided to follow the wicked stepsisters (even though they were full blooded sisters, Laura couldn't believe they'd want to kill her, annoying brat though she may be.) was no reason for her team to get involved.

Let alone the Genii, what possible motive could they have for being here? And where the hell had they gotten heavy weapons from? It's not like you can easily bring artillery shells and cannons through the stargate unnoticed. That left only 2 possible situations. The Genii either had a very large interest in the planet, or they've been here in subterfuge long enough to infiltrate the government to build those weapons in preparation.

Hester coughed violently and curled up reflexively. Laura held him down and pulled out her canteen. As soon as he stopped coughing. Hester took a sip of water and lay bak down. His voice was criminally weak. _"Cap… can I ask you something?"_

Laura nodded quickly. "Yeah… yeah of course."

"Why'd you leave the marines?"

A smile draped over Laura's face, it was a tough question to give a simple answer to. She sorely hoped that this wasn't acquiescing to a dying man's wish. "Well… the air force had a better program for me…"

"Do you miss em…? The Marines?"

Another hard question. "…Yeah. Don't get better than the marines… now come on Hester… stop asking crazy questions and get some rest."

The Air Force Sergeant coughed once more, and lay back as he stared off into space. "I wanted to be a marine… ol' pops wouldn't hear it though…" he scoffed for a bit, then continued as Laura listened to him. " _'No son of mine's gonna die in the desert.'_… ha… so I ended up in air force blues…"

Laura saw he just wanted to talk, and it was helping him cope with the dirt and metal imbedded in his body. "Well they fit nice at least… and you made it to Atlantis…"

Hester gulped suddenly, almost as if he felt something coming up and wanted it to stay down. "Cap… you think I coulda been a marine?"

Many people had asked Laura that question. Her standard answer was that if they _could_ have, they _would_ have been. But seeing Hester lying on the floor near death after holding off the initial attack group on his own… Laura couldn't help herself. "…Yeah… I think you could have… might wanna look for a transfer when we get back."

A few laughs escaped his mouth, and Hester's eyes began to drift as he held his dog tags. "... Tell pops would ya?"

Laura saw it from the beginning. She saw how Hester had finally reached the end of his endurance and began to slip away. "Hester…?" His body began to go limp, and his face softened from the grimace it was to a blank expression. "…_Hester_…?" the man was non-responsive, now letting out the final breath from his lungs. _"…Hester!"_

He was gone. His hand now a death grip around his tags around his neck. Laura bit back the sobs. She's seen men die before and it always tore a piece of her with it too. With a silent move, the used her hand to shut his now blank eyes.

Laura sat back and leaned against the concrete wall; somewhere off in the distance the sound of gunfire and an explosion rocked the building enough for dust to fall. The dust that swirled in the air was harsh and burned both her eyes and lungs… but it was nowhere near as bad as losing a member of her team.

It took her a few seconds, but knowing tradition, she gently slid the dog tags out from his stiff hand, and using her teeth she tore the strip in half. There was no telling whether they'd be able to come back for his body, but at the very least she'd be able to tell Colonel Carter how he died… and how in her eyes Air Force Master Sergeant Hester had passed his test to be a Marine.

----------------------------------

"Coming out of hyperspace."

John watched the screen on the bridge of Katana Labrea's ship as the craft popped out of hyperspace. Below him lay a pristine blue and green planet… not unlike Earth. The thought that this planet might come under attack from the Wraith or god forbid the Replicators was a hard pill to swallow. "Are we within sensor range?"

Katana looked to her technician and nodded. "Almost. We'll have a detailed scan in a minute."

It was a tense minute to say the least, after hearing what had happened on the other side of the gate, Katana had changed her views considerably. Gone were her thoughts of the Atlantis Expedition simply using the Travelers as pawns… the strained voice of Captain Cadman Larrin had shown her attested to what degree Colonel Sheppard cared about those under his command.

She thought him weak for begging Larrin to help… but now she realized just how strong he really was to have the will to humiliate himself like that. It spoke volumes of his loyalty.

So when Katana had asked him whether he'd be willing to do the same for her people… she believed him now. "Scans are coming in… we're detecting a lot of smoke and fires in the central city where the Stargate is." The screen ahead changed to an isometric view of the landscape, heat signatures of bodies and machines moved all over the place. "Looks like Genii technology. Did you know it was them?"

John shook his head… he and Sam were going to have to have a word with Ladon Radim. "No… they've been quiet recently. It doesn't make sense for them to do something like this."

Katana gave him a shit-eating grin. "Well they're doing it, and it looks like they aren't pulling any punches either."

Examining the map, John could see two main forces. One that seemed to be using the forest as a main headquarters… the legitimate government he assumed seeing as the other force was a bit more spread out, but still trying to get closer. The lack of Genii technology in the forest dwellers told him his assessment was correct. "Alright… can you scan for the transmitter signal we gave you earlier?"

Katana nodded and tapped it into her console. "Alright… it should be showing up right about… now."

On the same isometric view, 4 blips began to pulsate. 3 of them were inside a sheltered building near the edge of the forest… 1 of them was separated from the rest and… "Oh god_damnit!_" The heat signature from the 1 separated blip was non-existent… buried in the garden of a bombed out building…. John took a moment to consider how best to do this. He looked over to Katana and kept his voice low. "Think you can give us a little fire support?"

Katana's eyebrows rose. "Fire support?"

"If I paint a target down there… think you can hit it from up here?"

The Traveler's face hardened. "My orders were to give you a ride here and back. There was nothing about… _'Fire support._' "

John rubbed his face… it _was_ asking a lot of the Travelers. Looks like they'd have to do this the hard way. "Alright… that's fine. We'll take the Jumper we brought. Thanks for the ride."

Try as he might, the scorn in his voice wasn't completely masked. He didn't care though, already one person was dead down there amongst the hundreds of combatants and now seeing that what looked like an armored infantry division was heading to the forest base… as well as the building where what was left of AR-2 was… John had to hurry, and he was glad the Marines were ready for combat.

---------------------------------

"Alright, we're gonna try and put down as close to building as we can. Any luck and we won't even see combat."

The Marines in the hold, a bit cramped with all their equipment and gear, hoped that that happened as well. Seeing the devastation of the almost medieval village from what looked like high caliber weapons reminded many of the gulf war veterans of the sands of the Middle East. John himself felt some nostalgia… unbidden for, but it still came to him.

At least this time it was a sanctioned rescue mission. "We've got hostiles moving on the target building. Looks like Genii foot soldiers and… what the hell? Is that a tank!?"

Lo and behold, something akin to a T-34 rumbled down the street festooned with machine guns and what looked like a primary cannon. John turned to the Marine Captain seated next to him and grimaced. "Where the hell did the Genii pull that from!?"

The Marine captain shrugged, but pointed at the building on the HUD. "Don't think it matters sir. They're moving on our team's position."

John let the shock wear off, and then pressed the communications button. "This is Colonel John Sheppard to anyone on AR-2. Repeat… this is Colonel John She…"

Almost panicked, Cadman's voice came over the radio. "Holy shit! Colonel is that really you!?"

Realizing that Cadman still didn't know about his dramatic return, John held back his rebuke at her language. "Yes Captain. We're in a jumper heading to your position. Get your men ready cuz we're…"

Cadman's voice came back again, even more worried than before. "I've got wounded sir! Corporal Jenkins took fire and I don't think we should move him! We've fought off 2 assaults already but we're running out of ammo! Do _not_ recommend you open fire from the air! These Genii bastards have something like an RPG and it could easily take the ship down!"

The curse was stuck in John's throat, and he realized that combat was inevitable. With almost 60 men moving down the street covering their tank, it was going to be a hard fight. "Copy that Captain… We'll land on the roof of the building you're in and deploy defensive positions." He turned and looked at the team medic, a serious looking man with a big red cross on his armor. "I've got a combat medic here… Jenkins'll be alright. Boots on the ground in 2."

On the screen, the tank the Genii soldiers were covering moved into range and stopped. John watched in the zoomed screen as it aimed the main cannon it had, and fired.

The building that Cadman had taken cover in was surprisingly resilient, its solid rock design was a perfect bullet stop and obvious Cadman had realized that before garrisoning it. Despite a large dust cloud and spray of shrapnel, the building stayed resolute. Cadman on the other hand screamed over the radio. "Copy Colonel! Faster is better!"

John blew a breath, bowed his head and prayed. On his dog tags it stated his religion as no preference… but he knew some deity must exist… the math was too hard not to believe. He only hoped that it listened to prayers.

------------------------------

Rodney woke up… and he wondered how long he'd been lying here. His head ached terribly and his empty stomach grumbled.

Pain was something that Rodney had always hated. His team usually tried to keep it away from him, but time and time again he'd end up getting hurt one way or another.

It took a few second for him to realize what was happening, he was in the Atlantis infirmary. Carson was there… _wait… what? _"Carson?? But… how?"

The Scottish doctor shushed him and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Whoa there Rodney… calm down. It's been a tough few days on ya and I think ye'll be better off just resting."

Rodney couldn't tell what was real anymore… was this just a dream? It had to be… Carson was dead… long dead and… "What? Tough few days? Where am I? Where's my team? Where's Sam? And Doctor Keller?"

Carson shushed him again… only this time he looked a little more concerned… "Rodney… who's Sam?"

"Sam! Sam Carter! Colonel Samantha Carter! She's in charge of Atlantis!"

From the side, a voice came through… another voice he thought he'd never hear again. "I should hope not! _Lieutenant_ Colonel Carter is fighting the Ori in the Milky Way… and as much as I may want her to come and join us, she's needed there."

Rodney turned in his bed and stared at the dead woman in front of him. "El… _Elizabeth!? But… but how!? You're both dead!"_

Elizabeth and Carson looked at each other and sighed. Carson was the first to speak though. "We… we know Rodney… That hasn't happened yet."

Now Rodney was purely confused. What the _hell_ was going on!? "What?! But… that doesn't make sense! This isn't real… this can't be real!"

Elizabeth sighed, and Rodney could see what looked like depression in her expression. "Actually it is… this is very hard for me to tell you Rodney… but you're 2 years in the past from your point of view."

There's too much confusion… Rodney just couldn't tell what was real… what was fake… what meant what anymore… He just wanted it all to end.

----------------------------

"_Gunny! Take out that tank!"_ The Marine Captain, a man named Drake waved his Gunnery Sergeant into position with the Javelin launcher. He then raised his hand as his troops spilled out of the still hovering Jumper and took defensive positions behind the roof edge of the building. _"Covering Fire!"_

John finally set the Jumper down proper and kept the cloak on, he jumped out and was glad he'd put his ER-10 earplugs in as 3 P-90s and a duo of Benelli M4 Shotguns laid down suppressive fire giving one of the Sergeants with the Javelins time to aim and shoot.

Ronon was right on John's heels, his New Particle Magnum identical to the one the other marines and John now had. Perhaps he was no longer unique in having it, but his skill with it was unmatched.

They had just broken through the roof doors leading down, 2 marines and the Medic right along with them when the concussive blast of the Javelin pushed them slightly. The twenty thousand dollar missile soared clean and true, and the Genii soldiers were caught completely by surprise when their heavy armored vehicle was suddenly torn apart by the almost vertical explosive drop of the Javelin missile.

The blast was impressive, but it didn't deter the Genii troops. They had been given an order, and with the Galaxy in the turmoil it was, they knew following orders was the only chance for survival. They quickly regrouped and moved to the sides of the street to use the broken buildings for cover, long since abandoned by civilians.

The Marines on top of the building where AR-2 was cheered, but the celebration was quickly ended when the 50 or so odd Genii soldiers left began to move ahead under cover while laying down suppressive fire.

They weren't the typical militia or clueless grunts the expedition had encountered since going through the gate in Pegasus. These Genii soldiers had tactics and a strategy… and over time it would wear them down.

John rushed forward and saw Cadman on one knee next to a window. The bursts that fired from her P-90 were controlled, but it was obvious she was nowhere near calm. "Captain!"

Cadman emptied her clip, turned back to cover, and winced as bullets landed outside the window suppressing her. She nodded to John and Ronon who also ducked and took cover. Lance Corporal Jenkins lay on a table nearby with a hand holding down a bloody field dressing on his chest. "Right on time Colonel! Just ran out of ammo!"

The Specialist Medic came into the room carrying his field kit, and upon seeing Jenkins grimaced and cursed. The pair of Marines on John's tail took up other defensive positions and used dropped tables and cabinets for cover. John crawled over to where Cadman was and handed her a few clips from off his vest. He wasn't too surprised to see Cadman's vest was almost empty of all it's equipment "What happened?!"

Cadman reloaded her P-90, waited for John and Ronon to get into place by the window, and with both nodding and agreeing, turned and laid down more suppressive fire on the Genii below, a few took hits, but the majority held their line outside the building by cover. "You want a mission report?!"

Taking cover again, John noted the Medic beside Jenkins curse and begin trying to stabilize the wounded man. It didn't look good. "Sum it up in a sentence!"

With a snort, Cadman fired another 2 bursts through the window blind fire, and then rolled over next to the other two to get a better position. "That's easy, _SNAFU_!"

John snorted back as well and heard a loud bang from outside. He peeked out and saw stunned Genii soldiers stumble around for a moment before taking fire and falling dead to the ground. Probably the M-25's airburst mode.

Ronon spoke for the first time since landing as he fired out the window as well. "_SNAFU_? The hell is that?"

John shrugged, waited a second for the incoming fire to slacken, and then muttered loud enough for Ronon to hear. "Situation Normal: All fucked up!"

The Colonel left the window and moved over to where the Medic was working on Jenkins. The wound on his chest was severe, the bullets having deformed his Kevlar vest and torn his chest apart. That he was still alive and somewhat coherent was tantamount to an act of god. "Specialist! Get him ready! We need to get outta here now!"

The medic turned his head as his bloody hands worked to try and stop the bleeding. With his look he told John all he needed to know, but his voice made it all the more clearer. "It's not good Colonel, massive trauma to his chest. Looks like shredder rounds. Little penetration but he's got broken ribs and he's bleeding. I need 10 minutes to stabilize him."

Jenkins was on death's door and as the trembling and crying man wept incoherently. Even as bullets and screams surrounded the area, John realized what he had to do. "Can we move him?" A shake of the medic's head and the cold reality hit him. They'd be able to hold the line for maybe a few more minutes, but as soon the Genii reoriented their artillery… "You've got 5 minutes. Then we move him!"

"But sir…!"

John kept his voice harsh, his emotions buried. "No buts! We're totally exposed and won't last long in this position! So get him ready for transport, that's a direct order!"

The Medic scowled, but he nodded. "Yes sir!"

Leaving the dying man and his would-be savior; John crawled back over to where Ronon and Cadman were still firing out the window. "5 minutes and we're leaving!"

Cadman turned and could barely repress her rage. "But… Sir! Jenkins!"

John _never_ left people behind, but he wasn't a fool. Risking a full squad of Marines, Ronon, himself and what was left of Cadman's team for one man wasn't a sound strategy. _"No one left behind"_ was a misnomer. It should say _"No one left behind __if we can help it__."_ "Stand down Captain! One way or another he's coming with us! 5 Minutes!"

John didn't bother to see her scowl, and instead slapped Ronon's back as he moved back towards the stairs.

---------------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

Katana watched in pure interest, she hadn't expected the Colonel to be so bold as to actually hold the line against the superior number of Genii forces. Her scanners indicated that they were currently regrouping and preparing for a full scale attack with their long range heavy weapons. Even with a Jumper the Lanteans stood no chance against the Genii.

She held the radio that the Colonel had given her for an emergency and contemplated her next move. The ship was safe, not a thing on the planet could possibly hit them or even threaten them. It would certainly be a black mark on the new alliance with Atlantis if their rescue team were simply blown to ash while Katana stood on her bridge and watched. "Ready forward guns, I want pinpoint accuracy."

The technicians around her were a little surprised, but they knew how to follow orders. Now if only she could remember how to operate this damn radio.

---------------------------

The first of the RPG's that came in didn't surprise John. Cadman obviously knew what she was talking about and a stray rocket could indeed take down the Jumper. It was rather the sudden shower of the RPG's that scared the living bejesus out of him. "Take cover!"

Two of the Marines laying down suppressive fire didn't acknowledge, and the concussive blasts of the small rockets knocked one to the floor, and the other over the side of the 2 story building and down the slanted roof.

John thanked that deity he prayed to earlier as the rockets seemed to be designed for Armor Piercing and not wide spread damage. But seeing the marine corporal fall over the side of the building told him that this battle was going south, and only 2 minutes of his 5 had gone past. He cursed loudly as he motioned to a pair of marines, one with an M-25, and the other with a Benelli Shotgun. "You two! On my six!" he motioned to the rest as they ducked and avoided the hail of bullets flying past them. "Rest of you, fire at will! Gotta hold em back!"

A Fire At Will order was nothing light. Every soldier knew that it really meant shoot everything you've got. John knew this as well and prayed that it was enough for what he had planned. "Come on! We got a man down!"

The two soldiers nodded and quickly fell into line. John scampered down the steps of the now crumbling building, bullet pockmarks everywhere and broken rock cluttering the floor. He saw Cadman and Ronon had moved and were now helping the Medic build a cheap stretcher. It hurt John to know what kind of pain Jenkins was in.

But there was another soldier down, and John wouldn't leave him behind either. The first floor of the building had been set alight by so many RPG impacts. The flames burned what little combustibles there were inside and the heat wave that hit the men was enough to stagger them.

It took a few moments to clear their vision, but soon John led the two marines through an open window in the back and down to the dirt. As he hit the ground he heard his radio begin to squawk _"…ana to …eppard… you there?"_

The marines gave each other confused looks, but seeing John's sudden relieved expression, paid no mind as he replied. "This is Sheppard! Katana, that you?"

Once he depressed the button Katana's voice came in again. _"You there Sheppard? Come on work you stupid thing…" _the sound of shaking came over the radio and John nearly smacked his forehead.

"Damnit Katana! Take your finger off the freaking button!"

The marines did their best not to laugh, but seeing as support was literally just a depressed button away, couldn't help but snicker at the ridiculous circumstances. "I thought the Traveler's were tech savvy."

"Guess brains and beauty really don't mix."

John held his snort, and waved the two of them down. He pressed the button again and calmly and loudly spoke. "Katana… this is Colonel Sheppard. Let. Go. Of. The. Button. To. Listen!"

Now moving around the building, finally Katana responded. "_Oh that's how this works. You don't use two way communications?"_

"_KATANA!"_

Now the marines behind John chuckled wholeheartedly the sudden shell exploding about 30 feet away shut them up though. _"Yes yes! Sheppard! I'm getting ready to give you that fire support thing you wanted. Where do you want…?"_

With the shockwave pushing them back, and now the wounded marine that had fallen from the rooftop flopping around with a broken leg ahead of them, John made his point clear to the Traveler woman. "All around us! _Now now now_!"

It only took a few moments, but upon reaching the downed marine who was trying to crawl back into the building, sonic booms were heard above as the Traveler Particle Cannons rained red fire down from space. _"That meet your idea of Fire Support?!"_

The particle cannon shots left steam trails as they burned through the clouds above, each hit shook the ground from the supersonic hits. The incoming fire immediately slackened, and John decided that Katana Labrea was perhaps not as big a bitch he'd begun to suspect she was. "I owe ya one Katana! We'll be back soon! Just keep those Artillery Cannons off us!"

John didn't hear a reply, and feeling much better about their situation, lifted the wounded marine with the help of the other two. The hailstorm of particle cannon fire gave rise to a small dust cloud comparable to a Massive Ordinance Air Burst bomb.

It wasn't long till they had entered the building again, and while still under relative fire from sporadic enemies, the battle line had been mostly erased and the situation was acceptably tense.

John carefully went over to where the Medic was still working on Jenkins, now assisted by Cadman while Ronon and the elusive Corporal Grant covered them.

Moving beside the medic, John noted that Jenkins didn't look nearly as bad as he did before. Although a shade or two lighter, his breathing had improved and he wasn't shaking or weeping anymore. John put a hand on the medic's shoulder and muttered softly. "How long to stabilize him?"

The medic turned and just as softly whispered. "We can move him now… but I'd prefer to get him comfortable first."

John nodded in agreement. "Do that. I'll get the Jumper ready."

The battle was over, and while they had lost 1 man and several were wounded, John had done what he came here to do. No one else from the expedition would die needlessly.

--------------------------

"Oberoth."

The imposing man turned from his position at the balcony and nodded. "Yes?"

Talia moved closer and bowed her head with respect. "One of our Aurora groups has detected a faint particle weapon signature from a planet near them. That planet was tagged as tertiary objective due to its relatively low human population… but intensified scanning has detected some kind of revolt on the planet."

Oberoth frowned slightly. "Revolt?"

Talia nodded. "Yes, Oberoth, the battle group launched a scout craft and is observing a small human space craft that has been identified as one of the unknown craft that assaulted our home planet a month ago. It was firing on military assets on the ground. It seemed rather strange as the planet had no means with which to defend itself from such an attack."

With a moment's hesitation, Oberoth replied. "Dispatch the battlegroup to investigate. If the human craft is still in orbit, have the battlegroup attempt a capture."

Despite wanting to know Oberoth's reasoning's, Talia simply nodded. "Of course. I will relay the information now."

-------------------------------

"Take your wounded men to the cargo hold… I'll have some of my crew come and give you a hand."

John wiped the blood from his face. Where it had come from was unknown to him but he knew it wasn't his. "Thanks… and thanks for the help. We might have lost more of our men… as it stands we actually only lost one."

Katana moved forward and flicked off some caked on dirt from his BDU. "Get down to the cargo bay, get cleaned up. We'll be…"

An alarm began to sound, and Katana turned to her helm officer. "Report!"

The helmsman, a rather serious looking traveler with a full leather outfit called out the alarm. "We're receiving a signal from the planet Captain. Looks like a primitive 2 way radio transmission."

Katana looked to John and furrowed her brow. "Friends of yours?"

John stepped forward and scratched his temple. "Don't think so… what's it saying?"

Looking first for acknowledgment from Katana, the helmsman put it through the loudspeaker. "It's a little staticky, but they should be able to hear us as well."

The transmission cleared up, and a frustrated man's voice came through. "_To the ship in orbit of this planet; this is Genii commander Estrus Alwen, Why have you fired on my men?"_

John looked to Katana, she seemed caught off guard and after a moment of scowling at John, she replied. "This is Katana Labrea, I'm a Traveler, I came with Colonel Sheppard of the Atlantis expedit…"

"_Atlantis!? So you fire on us in defense of those dogs? This is an act of war in alliance with Atlantis Traveler; it is not wise to make an enemy of the Genii…"_

John couldn't help but notice the same inflection Cowen used that one time, and motioned to Katana to let him speak. She sighed softly and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Alwen… This is Colonel Sheppard. You say we declared war? Explain why your men opened fire on my team with heavy weapons and platoons worth of men."

"_I have nothing to explain to you. We are here as allied support of the new provisional government! Your ancestral flying weapons will only serve to slow us down in reaching the…"_

John interrupted, seeing a flaw in his logic. "Drone weapons? Alwen! We never attacked you. You shot at us first and we defended ourselves. We don't even have Drone Weapons down there!"

"_Of course you do! I lost an entire platoon to your demonic buzzing weapons!"_

Not even bothering to reply, John looked to Katana again. "Hey, can you do a scan of the planet for Drone Weapons?"

Katana blinked, but seeing John was serious she nodded to her operations officer. "Do it."

A few moments passed, and the console beeped with an alarm. "Captain… we've got dozens of small signals coming from the planet surface. All coming from the secondary encampment in the forest."

Before Katana could really reply, a sudden shake through the ship got everyone at full alertness. "The hell was that?!"

John went to the console where the helmsman was, and his eyes widened at what he was seeing on the sensors. "Oh shit… 3 Aurora's just jumped in right on top of us… they're firing…"

Katana reacted instantly and barked her orders. "Helm! Get us outta here _now!" _She tapped the communicator on her wrist. "Mila! Give me full speed on engines! We're under attack!"

A girl's voice came back with surprising cheer. "_No problem!"_

John watched as Katana's crew moved into action, and despite still having questions of what was going on down on the surface of the planet, knew that the dozens of drone weapon signatures heading towards them was just a little more important.

-------------------------------

Cadman took a hold of Jenkins hand and squeezed. The Marine Medic and 2 Traveler women taking care of him was a nice touch she had to admit.

The Travelers had saved them. There was no other way to say it. When she saw the falling orbital strike, it was like all the times she'd watched Independence Day… only this time the Aliens were saving humanity instead of destroying it. It had bought them the time to stabilize Jenkins and make sure he'd survive to go home.

Home. Somewhere Laura missed… but not enough to want to abandon Atlantis just yet.

From behind her a familiar voice carried in the room.. "Captain Cadman…"

Laura turned and saluted the Colonel. "Colonel Sheppard…"

John moved in beside Laura and looked down at the unconscious Jenkins. "How's the corporal doing?"

With a nod, Laura smiled. "He'll make it. The type of ammo they were using was a hollow point style with a shredder base. Really damaging to flesh and unarmored targets…" she turned to Jenkins. "Good thing Jenkins had his vest on."

John sighed as he considered it. Those types of bullets would be great against the Wraith. It must have been a pretty accurate burst to so severely wound the armored Marine. "Hey… listen Captain… I wanted to talk about what happened down there."

The smile never left Laura's face. "I guess I should thank you."

Totally contrary to what John was thinking, he misspoke before he reacted. "I'm sorry I… wait… _what_?"

Laura didn't catch his confusion and motioned to Jenkins. "The Travelers, you got them to help us. Jenkins wouldn't have made it without them." She took a moment to prepare for her next words. "You saved us all."

Now John felt REALLY stupid. What he wanted to tell her was that he was sorry he pushed for speed before Katana decided to get off her toned ass and help them. Now he was getting lauded for something he felt he didn't deserve. "Well… to be honest…" Seeing the look of hope in her eyes… something he noticed many in the expedition were missing… so he forgot about it. "… Yeah. I Uhh… not to sound arrogant or anything…"

Laura started to laugh, and gave John a toothy grin. "Of course not, but we're alive. I'm sure Jenkins's wife would love to know it was your work that got him outta there alive."

A pang of regret hit John. "Not Hester though…"

Laura lost her smile, and after a sigh she fished out his dog tag that she'd taken from the body. "I Uhh… I know it's not official yet or anything. But I was hoping you could help me out with something."

Hester must have had a last request. It was customary to follow through. "Yeah… yeah sure thing. What is it?"

Holding up the broken dog tag, Laura gulped softly. "Hester wanted to be a Marine."

John understood the implication. While the Air Force had been his life… The Marines were definitely something else entirely. John knew he'd never have passed muster in the Marines, he'd more than likely wash out for having an opinion. "… Guess we'll have to talk to Carter about that. I don't think it should be a problem though."

Again, Laura smiled. Even if today wasn't exactly a good day, it wasn't the worst she'd ever had.

---------------------------------

Sam's voice was incredulous. "The _Genii?"_

John nodded, and to his side Laura nodded a bit more slowly as she replied. "Yes Ma-am. We had met with the current leaders of the planet. 3 sisters who were vying for the monarchy. The youngest, little brat named Harmony didn't want to listen to us. The other two were a little more receiving, but the next thing we knew the Genii start backing one of the two older sisters."

"So a civil war?"

Laura nodded to Sam again. "Looks that way sir. I'm guessing the Genii had a long term investment since they had heavy weapons and even armored vehicles."

John sighed and remembered being under heavy fire. "Looked like an old world war 2 soviet tank. I remember one of my shop teachers telling me we could build one of those in our garage but I never believed him till today."

It was incredible; Sam couldn't believe that the Genii would be so willing to make such a forward and aggressive move. As far as she knew, the Genii were a more subtle and infiltrative military force. To go so far as to actually build armored vehicles… "Yeah me too. So what happened before you called us?"

Laura blew a harsh breath, remembering how Hester had managed to hold off the Genii soldiers after them made her just a little wisty eyed. "Ma-am… once we realized what was going to happen, we fell back towards the gate. Before we could get there though the fighting started. As far as we could tell the fired first with artillery towards the main castle where the Stargate was."

Sam furrowed her brow. "So… you might not have been the target?"

A scoff left the Captain's lips. "Not to sound impetuous… but when an artillery shell lands 20 feet in front of us… yeah… I think we were the target. And as if that wasn't bad enough, when we took cover in the DHD room, they sent in ground forces even under the cover of their own fire."

With a nod, John nodded and agreed with the Captain. "I'm not surprised. When we landed they had an armored infantry platoon attacking. I guess they don't have much experience with armored vehicles and explosive shells."

Sam shrugged and rubbed her chin. "I'm not surprised... so after your distress call…"

Laura gulped; she didn't like having to report this. "We… we were trapped in the room. I had Sergeant Hester blow us a hole through the wall. Once he did the Genii _really_ started dropping bombs and one landed a little too close to him. Corporal Grant took a bullet in his left arm and I got a little scorched by a shell myself. We fell back into the forest but found more troops there. In the end we had to take cover in the city… we lost Hester here. He was too wounded."

John made a motion with his hand and took control of the conversation. "We Uhh… I mean Captain Cadman has a request that I'll be pushing through later… We can discuss that after."

Sam saw how both the Captain and Colonel before her were bothered by what had happened. So she pushed forward to try and get this debriefing done. "Alright, so once you lost Hester, where'd you go?"

Laura's eyes moved to the side, and she remembered the tense urban shootout. "The Genii started hunting us, it wasn't long before they found us and we had to shoot our way through the streets. I found a building that would give us good cover and we headed there. 2 squads of Genii troops found us and on the second, Jenkins took fire. I treated him what I could but if Colonel Sheppard hadn't shown up we would have been totally screwed."

Sam nodded and felt empathy for the Captain. It wasn't even her 4th mission with that team and already they were tainted with death. "Take the next 2 days off and take care of your team. I'm sure Colonel Sheppard can handle the rest of the debriefing. Don't worry about writing up a report."

Laura smiled, the still dirty cheeks almost getting wet with tears of relief. "Thank you sir… and I will have a written report for you as soon as possible."

It was reassuring to know that the Captain hadn't broken, and Sam nodded in thanks. "Dismissed Captain."

Laura nodded to them both and excused herself. John was a little more concerned with everything that had happened and seeing Sam motion for him to sit, plopped down on the chair. All he wanted was to spend an hour in the sauna. "We wouldn't have made it without Katana's help… at least not all of us."

Sam sat down and sighed. "6 wounded, 2 critically. One KIA… it could have been a lot worse."

They looked at each other and the subliminal communication was there. John's relief at having done what he could showed in his relaxed eyes and body posture. Sam's thanks in her gentle smile and caring eyes. Neither really had to say anything, they just understood.

John was the first to break the silence… he was the one giving his report. "Well… once we found the team, we had to hold the line until Jenkins was stabilized. It wasn't looking good because well... the ship's Captain, Katana, she wasn't really all that happy with the idea of allying with us. We Uhh… we argued a bit but I guess I must have convinced her. If Katana hadn't given us some fire support we would have had to move Jenkins sooner… probably wouldn't have made it."

"Guess we do owe em one… so what happened when you left?"

John sighed, when all of a sudden an alarm began to sound. "Oh are you serious? What is that the fourth one today?"

Sam rolled her eyes; it had been a hectic few hours with all the travelers. "More like tenth…" She tapped her earpiece. "This is Colonel Carter. What's going on?"

Chuck's voice came back quickly. "_Ma-am, unscheduled off world activation. It's the Genii ma-am. Ladon Radim wants to speak to… well… he said Weir but I don't think he knows you're in charge."_

Sam winced, first impressions were something she was used to, but this was different. "Alright… put him through to my office."

With a nod, John showed that he was going to stay and support her. He moved in behind her and rubbed some of the blood and dirt off his face.

Sam turned on the desk monitor and wasn't too surprised to see a rather irate looking man on the other end. _"Atlantis! This is Ladon Radim! I demand to speak to Dr Weir!"_

With a strong voice that John had only heard a few times, Sam barked back just as if not even more intimidatingly. "I am Colonel Samantha Carter, I'm the new leader of the Atlantis Expedition and if you want to speak to someone in charge, it's me."

"_And Colonel Sheppard?"_

Sam turned to John and saw his nod. "You talk to her Ladon."

The skinny man grunted, and continued his argumentative speech. "_Very well, I demand to know why your team on Queen Harmony's planet opened fire on my relief force with ancestral weapons!"_

Both John and Sam raised their eyebrows, and a moment of looking at each other gave Sam the info she needed. "Uhh… Ladon is it? Our people didn't open fire. In fact they tell me it was _your_ men who opened fire first."

"_Do not play games Colonel! Whether it was you or not the planet is destroyed! The Genii have lost more men today than in the last 50 years of Wraith cullings! You have declared war with us and we will not take it sitting down!"_

Now Sam was pissed. Confused, but pissed. John took a step back to avoid any of the backsplash. "You killed one of our men before we even began to defend ourselves! You have the audacity to blame an attack on us?"

"_Your lies will not sway me. We sent a relief force to offer them safety from the replicators in our bunkers, when your team offered Atlantis as a sanctuary you caused a schism! This is all __your__ fault and the Genii will never forgive you!"_

John gently put a hand on Sam's forearm in a silent move to let him speak, Sam turned and nodded gently allowing her second in command to get a word in. "It's our fault your men were shelling a city of civilians? It's our fault you tried to hunt down our men? Get your facts straight, We didn't shoot first!"

"_There are none others than the Replicators who have ancestral weapons! You killed an entire diplomatic group sent to the Shrine of Larris to negotiate with those infernal devices! I will not listen to more lies! Should we meet again it will __not__ be friendly!"_

The link shut off suddenly and Sam cursed out loud. "Goddamnit!" she turned with an exasperated look to John. "Ancient weapons? What the hell is he talking about? I thought you said you never fired a single drone."

John didn't feel offended; he knew Sam had to see every possible reason. "I didn't… but I was just about to tell you, when we left the planet their battle commander radioed us and accused us of the same. We scanned the planet and yeah… someone was using drones down there."

Sam stared back and John for a moment, and knew deep down he was telling the truth. "I'm guessing the Shrine of Larris was ancient tech down there… and we never knew it?"

With a sigh, John rubbed his face as he moved around the desk. "And we won't ever now… the Replicators showed up and… well Ladon probably wasn't kidding that the planet's been destroyed."

A wince stretched Sam's face, and she leaned on her desk with her palms. "So basically… you're telling me that we just lost a good trade partner… as well as any refugees that might have come from that planet,… declared war with the Genii completely by accident because the Shrine of Larris was some ancient tech that someone used to try and defend themselves from the Genii… and this is all besides losing another planet to the Replicators?

John could see the ludicrousness of the disorganization… and the worst part was he agreed. "Well…basically? Yeah. But at least now we've got the Travelers on our side."

Sam sighed heavily and leaned her face on her palms as she sat down. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about that…"

-----------------------------

Radek had long since forgiven Rodney for all the times he yelled, screamed, whined, pouted, or any other form of communication the man used to encourage _*cough.. Berate… cough*_ his colleagues.

In fact, compared to the sugar boosted insanity _(Radek would never openly say it. But the pixie sticks Colonel Carter had provided to the Traveler kids was perhaps not the best idea.) _That was the young Traveler engineer bouncing around Rodney's old lab generally making a mess of things. "_Please… __please __careful!_ There are a lot of very sensitive and…"

Mila, very intrigued over the Lantean design that she had only gotten a chance to see earlier on the Traveler Aurora, had already gone through and discarded the majority of the unknown gadgets lying around. Now she was quickly hacking into Rodney's old computer with a look of glee. "This place is so shiny! I love it!"

"Yes yes! If you'd let me show you…"

Quickly bypassing the rudimentary security of Rodney's password _(using a purely numeric code was perhaps not the smartest idea.) _Mila now perused the bookmarked files that he had. One in particular caught her eye. "Ohh! Look! It's just like the rings!"

Radek was just about to blow a gasket and begin screaming in Czech, when he saw the information scrolling across the monitor. Indeed, it was just like a stargate. "Where did… but… how…?"

Mila tapped a few more buttons and even more information scrolled by. "Coool! It's so big!"

Sitting down now, his heart beginning to beat more rapidly, Radek started to put together the math he was seeing in his head. "How… how old are you Mila?"

The young woman gave him a toothy grin beneath her oh-so-cute grease splotched face. "I'm 14! Next year I'm getting my own room!"

As frustrated as Radek was, the information now scrolling across the screen left him beyond flabbergasted. "You… you deserve it."

---------------------------


End file.
